Senate passes new unemployment benefits bill, Tilley responds

JEFFERSON CITY — The state Senate passed a version of a bill that extends unemployment benefits by 20 weeks, and House Speaker Steve Tilley said his chamber is prepared to pass it.

But Tilley was less certain about other agreements in a deal that ended a threatened filibuster on the benefits bill.

Senate President Pro Tem Rob Mayer, R-Dexter, told four senators who were filibustering the unemployment extension bill that he would help them find $250 million in cuts in a House bill that accepts federal money.

“He may have made a deal where he can’t fulfill his part of the bargain,” said Tilley, who said he wasn’t consulted about the deal.

And Tilley said the House won’t put too much weight on what he believes the Senate wants him to do.

“I’m not going to be held hostage by a few people,” he said.

Sens. Jim Lembke, Rob Schaaf, Brian Nieves and Will Kraus had been filibustering the bill, which uses federal money to extend unemployment benefits from 79 to 99 weeks.

Lembke and the others agreed to Mayer’s deal, saying their goal was to send as much federal money back to Washington as possible.